Safety garment



G. BAILHE SAFETY GARMENT Aug. 26, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Filed Feb. 25, 1949 -|NVENTOR 420245 54/4/14.

ATTORNEY G. BAILHE SAFETY GARMENT Aug. 26, 1952 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1949 INVENTOR Gav/Pg: 5411MB.

ATTORNEY f 1] AFETY GARMENT George Baillie, Brooklyn, N..-Y.

Application February 25, 1949, Stem; 78,5269

v Y I 2 Claims.

" Thisfinvention relates to garments generally and particularly to life saving or safety garments. While garments providedwith inflatable portions or with life preserver attachments are known in the art, such devices invariably have the tendency, when depended upon to support the wearer within water, toso float'his body that his head and especially themouth and nose are :notalwayskept clear of the water, as it should be for proper. safety, whereby such garments are rendered impractical and even dangerous.

1 Furthermore; heretofore employed devices of that type .are invariably restricted to their intended purpose of assisting the wearer to float, and can not be worn as a part of ordinary clothing when not in use as floating help.

The present invention contemplates to overcome the faults and shortcomings of bouyancyproviding devices of that kind and tointroduce a garment which not only will assure the person wearing it to securely float so that not only his head, face, mouth and nose will be always kept safely above water and, prevented from becoming submerged, but that hischest area will be caused to floattopmost, thereby the possibility of an inadvertent turning of t'he body with the head downward is definitely precluded, j

It is' also contemplated to so construct the safety garment of the present invention that it may serve both as a buoyancy-providing device and as clothing. for ordinary wear when not in use for floating. In addition it is contemplated to employthe garment, when worn as clothing, to protect and warm the chest and neck, for which function the garment is partly inflated so that insulatinglayers of air are formed'in the respective portions of the garment.

' To that end the present invention provides a readily attachable over-garment which may be worn'either without or on'top of ordinary clothing, and which ovebgarment can be readily secured by a fast-working slide fastener arranged in the front, and inwhich garment are provided means for tightening it to the body interiorly about the waist of the wearer, thereby preventing its shifting inrespect to the wearer's body, and in which garment are provided relatively large and broad, readily inflatable chest-supporting elements and a neck-supporting element, which latter connects the chest supporting elements, the combined elements assure the correct and safe support of both the head and of. the chest of the wearerabove water, and definitely prevent the possibility-of tumblingof the body in the water or causing the submerging of the head.

The prime object of this invention therefore is the provision of a safety garment having relatively large float supports extendin over the chest portion and around the neck of the wearer, and wherein the neck support is connected with the chest-supporting portions. j I

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety garment with .a continuous inflatable element composed of two relatively voluminous chest-supporting portions and a substantially designed neck-supporting portion, which latter forms a connection between the two chest-supporting portions, v

A further object of this invention is'the 1p'r0 vision of a safety garment in combination with a continuous, inflatable element, composed of a 'pairo'f relatively large chest-supporting portions and a substantially designed neck-supporting hollow by employing two separate upper or outer and lowerpr inner plies, which are united exteriorly, and wherein the two-ply front sections of thegarment are so constructed that they provide relatively large, circumferentially closed pockets, which are open at their'topTends, and which top ends communicate with the hollow collar formation, and which pockets and the hollow collar are adapted for the reception of an inflatable bladder having two large chest portions,

one for each pocket, and a neck structure connecting the chest portion, said neck structure being adapted to be insertable into the hollow collar formation of the garment, and wherein the neck structure of the bladderis provided with a tubular extension equipped with a suitable valve forinfiating or deflating the bladder, said collar formation having an opening for 'the passage therethrough of that tubular extension, and

wherein the neck structure of thebladder and the collar formation of the garment are" provided with corresponding fastening means for fixing the'positionof the bladder in respect to the garment.

Still another'obiect of the present invention is 'to. provideflin a jgarmentflof the class indicated,

an interior fastening element in theform 'of "a from water-impervious material, such as a plastie film, and wherein, instead of a removable bladder, the garment is constructed with two peripherally sealed plies about the chestandlc'ohlar portions, whereby an integral bladder for-v mation is produced in the garment, and which bladder formation is provided with suitablemean's for readily inflating or deflating it from without the garment.

' A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety garment of the class indicated, wherein the under or lower. ply of its hollow coll'ar portion is normally drawn together at the rear and is rendered expansible to accommodate the inflated neck structure of the bladder.

, The foregoing and still further objects and important. provisions of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the ensuing description, in conjunction with the accompanydrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1' is a front elevation of a closed. garment designed according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows the closed garment with its bladder. inflated, while Worn by a person;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the garment in .itsopen state and showing its interior arrange,- ment;

Fig. 4' is a section taken approximately along lined-4 of Fig. 3 ;v

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section along line 5-5 of 3 through the collar portion of the garment;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical vertical cross sectionthrough the garment with an inflated bladd er;

Fig. 7 is a rearview of the top portion of the garment showing. the arrangement of the collar construction;

. Fig. 8 illustrates a plan view of the bladder in its deflated state;

.Fig, Q'isa section taken approximately on line 9-9 of Fi 3;

members ll as clearly seen from Figs. 4 and 9.

These double. layers or plies extend full-length fromv the shoulders and collar areas to the bottom edges of the frontal sections and are provided with a slide fastener closure l2. The back section of the garment, indicated at l3 in Fig. 3, is made of one-ply material, but at its upper portion there is provided a-relatively narrow lining member or flap [4 extending from its top edge [5 to its bottom edge. [61a short distance below. That bottom edge i'sfre'e and may be readily 4 lifted, in the direction indicated by arrow I, for the insertion of the bladder, as will be explained presently.

At the top of the garment there is provided a hollow collar formation 11, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 5, composed of outer or top and under or back portions, [1' and II", respectively, the latter portion being cut relatively full so that it may be gathered by means of an elastic l8 attached alongthe uppered'ge of'backisection l3. The gathering of the back' collar-material renders the collar formation stretchable or expansible. To the interior edge of the outer collar portion is attached the upper edge I5 of narrow back lining member l4.

At the interior waistline area of the garment thereis provided an elongated pocket l9 for the receptionbf' a draw cord 20, which latter may be; fastened together before the garment is closed by slide fastenerl2. The exterior or normally. upper surface'ofcollar formation l-L is preferably provided. with a suitable,- covering, such as corduroy, although. any other type. of material-may be emp1oyed,.or suchcovering. may beomitted ifsodesiredl 1 Referring now to'the construction ofv front sections [0 and II, as stated. above, each are preferably composed of anro'uter. ply and an inner ply or lining, which. plies are. peripherally united and. in addition are stitchedtogether along lines 21, to form deep chest pockets 22'. These pockets are circumferentially closed], except for their top ends,,which latter are. open. and. communicate directly with the hollow interior of collar fQl-mas' tion- I"! and the space between back section 1.3 and lining flap-l4. Bylifting. that flap access isprovided to-thatispace.

Bladder 23,. shown in, detail. in. Fig. '8, com}- prises two symmetrically arranged chest-portions. 24 connectedwitheach other by neckportion 25. The-lattenis, provided. with a snapfas tener. element 261,, a grip" tab 21 and ashort tubing 28, at the-end of whichis secureda v lv 29, whereby the bladder may be either, inflated or deflated. Bladder 23' is, preferably. made-from two plies of. plastic materiaL. the. edgesof. which are firmly united; by heat-sea in ;v thus-rendering the bladder watertight.

Insertion of bladder The =-b1adderis intended to be associated, with the garment so that its; two large chest. portions 2,.4-are placedint pockets 22 andneck portion25 is inserted in the hollow space: of collar formation I! of the garment. To facilitate the'insertion. of the bladder, lining, flap: [4. is lifted. and the two chest portions. are inserted first. into pockets. 22, whereuponlneckportion. 25 is moved into. collar formation H. where it is heldin. place by means of snap fastener element. 26, upon its engagement with a corresponding snap. fastener element 26 provided atthe center and near the edge .of collar formation 11. It. willv benoted that the. latter is provided with a buttonable tab 30, madeof two plies of material, and the edge of the tab is left open sufiiciently tr,v facilitate the passage to without ofval've 29 atthe end. of

inflating tube 28'. Collar .tab' 30 is intended. to benormally attachedto button. 31 when the col-.-

lar .is in its normally downward" position as shown in Fig. .1.

I e When the "garment is. being worn; while the bladder is.v either fully'or partly inflated, .the collar may. be broughtup as shown in Fig. 2, in which case tab 30 is attached to button 32 provided near the right tip of the collar.

As stated, the garment of the present invention is adapted to normally form a part of the clothing of the wearer and may be either Worn on top of the usual clothing, or may be used instead of such clothing. Due to the fact that bladder 23 extends over practically the entire chest area of the wearer and about the neck of the latter, which portions of the garment are constructed of two plies, the garment affords, even without a partly inflated bladder, considerable protection of the wearers body. When the bladder is partly inflated the latter forms an effective insulating layer around the chest and neck portions and enhances the warming effect at those areas. Thus the garment may form an effective protection while worn outdoors and especially on board of ship and while it is not serving as a life saving device. In that case the bladder may be partly inflated. In the event of emergency the garment is readily adapted to support the wearers body in water, in which event the bladder is to be fully inflated. The chest formations of the bladder will support the wearer in water so that his chest will always be topmost in the water, and the inflated neck portion will support the head comfortably above the water surface. In no event is there a tendency of tumbling the wearers body with the head down,

but on the contrary the garment will cause the body of the wearer to float with the chest and head up, thereby precluding the possibility of drowning due to submersion of the head.

In order to enhance the warming quality of the collar portion and render it more comfortable for wear, the outer layer of the garment collar is preferably covered with cushioning material, such as corduroy, as already indicated above.

Referring now to Figs. 10 and 11, these illustrations picture a safety garment made entirely from plastic material, such as vinylite. In this embodiment bladder formation 23' constitutes an integral part of the frontal garment sections and of the collar portion, which latter serves as communicating element between the chest portions of the bladder formation. The front of the garment is again provided with a slide fastener 12',

and around the waist there is formed a pocket 1 I9 for the reception of a draw cord. As will be seen from Fig. 11, the front sections of the garment are made from inner plies 33 and outer plies 34, and bladder formation 23 is produced by heat-sealing the two plies, as at 35, so that the upper ends of the thus-formed pockets remain open and communicate with the hollow interior of the collar. It will be also noted that the collar structure is expansible by providing a fullness in material at the back of the collar, which is normally drawn together by an elastic l8.

Although the garment construction shown in Figs. 10 and 11 is not as dressy as the one described above, it is nevertheless suited for use as an overgarment and possesses the quality of warming the chest and neck portions of the wearer due to its two-ply arrangement in these areas, which latter will give added protection to the wearer while the bladder formation is either deflated or partly inflated. Extending from the collar of the garment is a tubular element 28' terminating in a valve 29, in the manner provided in the bladder shown in Fig. 8. The collar is preferably equipped with a tab 30,

6 however the latter need not serve for housing tubing 28, as is the case in the embodiment described previously, but may be used, when buttoned to the bottom ply of the collar, to hold the tubing out of sight.

While in the foregoing safety garment structures are described in accordance with the present invention, the specific details indicated are by no means intended in a limiting sense, inasmuch as improvements and changes may be readily incorporated therein, without departing from the broad scope of this invention as covered by the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a safety garment, an outer layer including a back panel and two front panels secured along their rear edges to the back panel, said front panels being provided with slide fastener closing means along their front edges, fulllength lining members for the front panels, corresponding in shape and size to the latter, secured along their rear, front and bottom edges to the edges of the front panels, a relatively narrow lining member extending along the upper portion of the back panel, a hollow collar formation composed of outer and under portions, the upper edge of the narrow back lining member being secured to the interior edge of the outer collar portion so that an inverted back pocket is formed between that lining member and the back panel and which pocket communicates with the hollow collar; chest pockets formed by stitching together the material of the upper chest areas of the full-length front lining members and of the front panels, said chest pockets being closed circumferentially except at their top, the top openings of the chest pockets communicating with the hollow collar formation by way of said inverted back pocket; and a continuous inflatable element inserted into said chest pockets and the hollow collar formation; said collar formation being adapted to normally layflat against the neck and shoulder areas of the garment but being further adapted to be turned upwards and to be held in its upturned position when said element is inflated.

2. In a safety garment as in claim 1, said inflatable element comprising two relatively small chest portions and a relatively short but Wide neck portion connecting the chest portions, the latter substantially corresponding to the uppermost chest areas of the wearer of the garment, said neck portion and said collar having coacting, interengageable means located substantially at the center of their respective outer edges for keeping the inflatable element at its correct central position relative the garment while the said element is either inflated or deflated.

GEORGE BAILHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 893 Nelson Feb. 7, 1860 1,291,448 Edmonds Jan. 14, 1919 1,313,936 Bailey Aug. 26, 1919 1,374,623 Youngren et a1. Apr. 12, 1921 1,853,386 Sutton Apr. 12, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 307,228 Great Britain Mar. 7, 1929 797,706 France May 2, 1936 

